Ethan Collik
Age: 22
Major: Accounting and Legal Studies
Hometown: Cherry Hill, NJ
Class: Graduating class of 2014
How did you become involved in CAB? I became involved in CAB because a couple of my friends and kids on my floor freshman year were in CAB. I went to a few events that they put on for campus and really enjoyed the events so when I looked into other things to get involved in on campus, CAB quickly went to the top of my list of organizations I was interested in. It allowed me to have a good time and build relationships and skills while doing something different than what I was doing in my classes.
What does being president entail? As president I am able to oversee the entire organization of about 50 people and I work closely with staff and faculty here at Drexel. I work with an executive board of 8 other individuals who all help lead respective parts of the organization. I am mostly the point of contact for people outside CAB to reach out to as well as running and attending multiple meetings a week. In addition to many tasks that I have in order to keep the organization running smoothly, I also try and do whatever extra is needed from me in order to help my members.
What does CAB accomplish? CAB plans over 150 events for students on Drexel’s campus. We are the largest student run organization here and plan a large portion of the events that happen around campus. Our goal is to try and engage as many students as possible and to improve the overall quality of student life at Drexel. We plan small events like movie screenings and back massages to our larger events like Puppy Pawlooza and Spring Jam. We try to make as many of our on campus events as possible free so that it is as accessible to students as it can be. We also plan many off campus events that we provide transportation to that include things like sports games, plays, and amusement park trips. For example, just recently we had our Spring Jam which got about 3,500 people out to it and was one of the largest, if not the largest, concert that Drexel has ever seen!
What is the best thing about being President of CAB? I think that the best part of my position is know that I have a large board of students who are willing to put so much time and effort into everything they do for CAB and they always get excited about it. When I planned events I used to say that my favorite things about CAB was planning an event and getting to see how much the students enjoyed it. Now that I am in an administrative position on CAB my favorite part is seeing my members achieve their goals and plan successful events because it is great to watch as they see their hard work paying off.
What is the hardest thing about it? The hardest thing about my position is just keeping track of everything. Between communications with my members, staff/faculty, other students on campus as well as keeping track of which of our many events is coming up, it is a struggle. I think that it is something I was able to keep in check this year but there were definitely things that slipped through the proverbial cracks. I also think that prioritizing my own goals and getting members to prioritize their goals was another challenge. When you step into a role like this you have so many ideas and goals and visions that it is hard to realize that all of them may not get accomplished in the short year that you have in the position.
How has it affected your time at Drexel? I think that CAB has completely changed my time at Drexel. I have been significantly more involved on campus then I ever would have imagined and I have met so many people that I am friends with that I would have likely never met otherwise. This organization has given me so many skills and opportunities that have been great for my career here at Drexel and skills that can be taken anywhere.
What do you want to do after you graduate? After I graduate I plan to work for a year or two and then go back to law school.
Has this experience influenced your career/co-op path? This really hasn’t changed my career path at all. Regardless of how much fun I had and how great planning events for campus is, I don’t want to go into event planning in my future.
What are your other hobbies & interests? I love going to out eat and trying new things (especially burger places, I know it’s simple but they are great), skiing, sailing, traveling with friends.